1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a user interface for a mobile terminal having a schedule function, and in particular, to a method for managing schedules.
2. Description of the Related Art
Commonly, a user always carries a mobile terminal with him or her, and frequently uses an electronic diary function, i.e., a schedule management function, among additional functions of the mobile terminal. In such a schedule management function, if a user selects a menu and then sets a date and a time of a schedule and an alert method, a mobile terminal raises an alert at the set time of the schedule in the alert method set by the user, and displays the recorded schedule contents for the user. In this way, the user can conveniently be notified of set schedule events.
Such a schedule function is chiefly useful for recording, as a schedule, the contents that the user desires to memorize, such as friends or parents' birthdays or various anniversaries, and reminding the user of such information that the user may otherwise forget. Among the contents that the user desires to record as a schedule, such schedules as festive days, election days, team dining, team meetings, friendship meetings, etc. are applied in common to the persons belonging to a particular group. Conventionally, in the case where one group has a common schedule, constituent members of the group must individually record the schedule in their own mobile terminals, even though the schedule is common to them.
Generally, the schedule being common to the persons belonging to a particular group can be notified over a telephone call or through a short message service (SMS). For example, when a certain group has a meeting, the SMS service is used to provide notice the meeting. Currently, the SMS service sends only text messages input by the user to the constituent members. In that case, some constituent members will manage their schedules by memorizing the message contents and inputting the contents to a scheduler or a personal information manager (PIM), while other constituent members may forget the contents after simply reading them. In some cases, the user may delete an SMS message by mistake and thus forget important schedule information. Therefore, when schedule information included in a received SMS message is important information, the user must set and manage a schedule or alert function after inconveniently inputting the schedule information to the scheduler or the PIM in person.
As described above, conventionally, users must annoyingly individually input even the common schedule in their own mobile terminals. Particularly, in the case where a common schedule is received with an SMS message, if the received SMS message has information on the schedule or special information that must be provided to users, the users must, inconveniently, each input the information in their individual scheduler or the PIM. In addition, the users may lose important information if they inadvertently delete the received SMS message. In order to solve such annoyance, a method for recording the contents of a common schedule in a convenient way is required.